


Hobbies

by j quadrifrons (Jenavira)



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Beholding, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Knitting, M/M, The Boyfriend Sweater Curse, really just appallingly domestic fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 10:57:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18809674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jenavira/pseuds/j%20quadrifrons
Summary: Martin knits. Jon watches.





	Hobbies

Jon is trying very hard not to stare. He knows it makes people uncomfortable, even more now that his gaze has something more behind it than pure interest, but Martin is being fascinating, and his book has lost his interest entirely.

(Martin is always fascinating, honestly. It’s been true for a long time but now he’s finally allowed to admit it and it’s a little overwhelming.)

They had settled down on the sofa after dinner, Jon with a book on architecture (plausibly not work-related, at least) and Martin with a ball of yarn and a handful of wooden needles, and now half an hour later Martin is dexterously wrangling a web of pointy sticks and string that looks constantly on the verge of either falling apart or stabbing someone, and yet never does either. He looks fully relaxed, twining the yarn around his fingers, working stitches down one needle and sliding the whole thing around to the next, an endless and mesmerizing cycle. Jon still tends to think of Martin as clumsy, he realizes with a stab of guilt, but right now he’s anything but.

“It’s just knitting,” Martin says calmly, the faintest hint of color in his cheeks the only sign that Jon’s watching affects him at all.

Jon closes his book, giving up the pretext. “I’ve never seen anyone do that before,” he admits. “Not with the…” He gestures vaguely at the complex web in Martin’s hands. It’s beginning to look less like a dangerous mess; there’s about an inch of knitted fabric hanging from the needles now. “It looks complicated.”

Martin is blushing now, his eyes fixed on his work; Jon’s praise always gets to him, no matter how roundabout. Jon tries not to take too much advantage of it but it’s terribly difficult when Martin looks so appealing. “I could teach you,” Martin says. “I learned when I was about ten, it’s really not that hard.”

“Lord no, I don’t have the patience.” Martin snorts in amused agreement. Jon moves over, sliding an arm around Martin’s waist so he can get closer without getting in the way of Martin’s work. “What are you making?”

Martin smiles and leans into him, tucking his elbow so he can keep knitting without jabbing Jon in the side. “Socks.”

“Socks?” He glances down at Martin’s feet, propped up on the coffee table. The socks he’s wearing are patterned with little cat faces and Jon is almost entirely certain they are not handmade.

“Yeah?” Martin’s ears are turning red. “I like to give them to people. It’s, you know, handmade gifts are always nicer, and.” He shrugs, clearly embarrassed by whatever feeling he’s trying to express. “You have to think about someone for quite a while, if you’re making them socks. How they fit, what they like. And then all the time it takes to make them. And it’s safer than a sweater, there’s no Boyfriend Curse on socks.”

Jon’s eyebrows go up, and he can’t keep the smile off his face. “Boyfriend curse?” He also can’t help his fingers curling tighter against Martin’s side, a reflex of the pleased shiver that still runs through him at the word. _Martin’s boyfriend_.

“Mm-hmm.” Martin works to the end of a needle, pulls it out, twists the work, tugs on the yarn for a little more give. Jon thinks he’s starting to see how this works. It’s a satisfying feeling, figuring out the process, like a puzzle piece clicking into place. “Knitter’s superstition. If you knit a sweater for your boyfriend you’ll break up before it’s done. Probably just that most people knit slow and have crap boyfriends,” he says, with a shy smile and a glance at Jon, “but better not risk it.”

“I suppose not,” Jon says, leaning back against the sofa. “Wait. You’re knitting socks for _me_?”

**Author's Note:**

>  
> 
> Less than an hour after I posted this on tumblr [Hiri drew this unbelievably adorable art of it](https://hiridraws.tumblr.com/post/184773159533/backofthebookshelf-wrote-this-hella-cute) and I just *clutches face in agony* Go tell her she's wonderful.
> 
> Please come yell about TMA with me, I have too many feelings  
> [@j_quadrifrons](https://twitter.com/j_quadrifrons), [backofthebookshelf](https://backofthebookshelf.tumblr.com)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] Hobbies](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20005609) by [GoLBPodfics (GodOfLaundryBaskets)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GodOfLaundryBaskets/pseuds/GoLBPodfics)




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